It's graduation season, and Columbia College is throwing one hell of a party before it sends its students out into the cold, hard world. All day long, the Manifest Urban Arts Festival will show off a vast array of work by Columbia's freshly certified actors, artists, photographers, dancers, musicians, writers, filmmakers, and, yes, marketing professionals.

People would probably go to the theater more if more shows were described as "action-packed sci-fi sagas that blend punch-ups and parody." Fight Girl Battle World—Qui Nguyen's futuristic yarn about a prizefighter who's also the last female human in the galaxy—is exactly that.

The 18th Annual Asian American Showcase at the Gene Siskel Film Center boasts a lineup of the best feature-length independent films directed by Asian Americans. Before watching the films (the full schedule is here), catch the reception for the "Next Generation" gallery in the cafe.

For more on these events and others, check out the Reader's daily Agenda page.